Neon lights and other ionized gas lighting systems have been used for years. Most commercial neon lights are either on or off. A small number of them are blinking signs. There has been a desire to have neon signs that have a write effect. The write effect means that the sign would light up at one end of the gas tube and the portion of the gas tube that was lit would progressively increase over a controlled time period as if someone were drawing out the sign. It would also be useful if neon signs could have a reverse write effect. There have been attempts to incorporate a write effect into neon signs. For instance, one proposed solution used a single cathode gas tube and a natural ground. Unfortunately, the write effect or handwriting effect produced was erratic.
Thus there exists a need for a gas light system that has the ability to blink and the ability to produce a consistent write effect.